Month: August 2020

FC Dallas defender Reggie Cannon has condemned the “disgusting” booing of players kneeling during the national anthem by some home fans before their match against Nashville on Wednesday.

Almost 3,000 fans were inside the Toyota Stadium, with supporters permitted at some Major League Soccer (MLS) games if local rules allow.

Some boos could be heard as players from both teams took a knee in protest against racial injustice.

“How disgraceful is that?” said Cannon.

“You got fans booing you for people taking a stand for what they believe in. Millions of other people support this cause and we discussed with every other team and the league what we’re going to do and we’ve got fans booing us in our own stadium.

“I think it was absolutely disgusting.”

The match, which Nashville won 1-0, was the first major league sporting event with fans since the MLS was suspended in March because of the global coronavirus pandemic.

During that time, protests have swept across the United States and worldwide following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African-American man who died on 25 May after a white police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin faces charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter, while three other officers were also sacked and charged with aiding and abetting murder.

“I’m sorry for our fans because we had someone chanting ‘USA’ when they don’t understand what kneeling means,” added 22-year-old USA international Cannon.

“They don’t understand why we’re kneeling – they can’t see the reason, they just think we’re the ignorant ones and it’s incredibly frustrating.

“When we decided to kneel I knew it was going to happen. That should tell you something. I knew we were going to have some negative pushback from having a unified response over what’s going on.

“That’s a problem.”

Cannon said Dallas’ intention to kneel had been communicated to both Nashville and the league before the match.

He had asked for the US national anthem not to be played but the MLS has previously said it will be when fans are in attendance.

A person was reportedly escorted out of the stadium after throwing a water bottle at players as they were kneeling.

“It hurts me because I love our fans. I love this club and I want to see the support that the league has given us – that everyone has given us – from our fans,” said Cannon.

“As soon as I heard that boo I tried to play on and I knew what to expect. We’ll take it one day at a time and again we’re unified in this response and everyone stands together.”

Watford are to appoint Vladimir Ivic as their new manager on a two year contract.

The 43-year old Serbian left his role as manager of Maccabi Tel Aviv at the end of the season after winning consecutive league titles.

According to reports, Ivic was to hold talks with Watford’s owners in Udine, Italy last month and he impressed them sufficiently to be handed the job. Ivic had previously managed PAOK where he won the Greek Cup in 2017.

He succeeds Nigel Pearson who was controversially sacked before the end of last season which saw Watford relegated to the Championship.

Former Leicester City coach Claude Puel, currently at St Etienne, had been the early favourite to succeed Pearson prior to Watford’s relegation while Barnsley boss Gerhard Struber had also been considered.

Ivic did not command compensation and was on a relatively modest contract in Israel

Brazilian superstar Neymar insisted that Paris Saint-Germain always believed they could come back from the brink to defeat Atalanta with two goals in the dying moments of their Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday.

“I never thought of going home. From start to finish, from the warm-up, we only thought of qualifying for the semi-finals,” the world’s most expensive footballer toldl news men

Substitute Eric Choupo-Moting’s goal three minutes into added time allowed PSG to beat the Italian outsiders 2-1.

Mario Pasalic gave Atalanta a 27th-minute lead but PSG were rescued when Marquinhos came forward to scramble in a last-minute equaliser.

Kylian Mbappe set up fellow substitute Choupo-Moting to win the tie right at the end.

The French champions will play RB Leipzig or Atletico Madrid next Tuesday for a place in the final.

“Nobody is going to take my mind off that I want to go to the final,” added 28-year-old Neymar as PSG made the last-four for the first time since 1995.

“We really have a great group, we’re a family, we know that with this state of mind it’s impossible. to put us out of competition.

“We knew that a ball could arrive, that even after the equaliser we could score a second goal.”

Neymar hailed Atalanta, the team which captured the imagination of neutrals, reaching this stage despite their city of Bergamo being one of the worst hit by the coronavirus.

“Atalanta are a great team, they played very well, they are the surprise of the competition. They were very aggressive, we knew they were going to press us,” said Neymar.

“Now we’re going to have to rest, it was a tough game mentally.

Kylian Mbappe could return for Paris St-Germain in Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final against Atalanta.

The France forward, 21, has recovered from an ankle injury and boss Thomas Tuchel says he will feature in Lisbon if “nothing extraordinary happens”.

However, Tuchel did then suggest Mbappe was most likey to be used off the bench against the Italian side.

“We are really pleased to have the possibility of finishing the match with Kylian on the pitch,” said Tuchel.

“That gives Neymar someone who likes playing alongside him.”

World Cup winner Mbappe sprained his ankle during PSG’s French Cup final win over Saint-Etienne on 24 July, but he has recovered in time for the ‘final eight’ stage of the Champions League.

The French champions have not reached the semi-finals of Europe’s elite club competition since the Qatari takeover of the club in 2011.

Canadian forward Jonathan David has officially joined Ligue 1 side Lille.

The French club announced the signing, which has been rumoured for days.

The 20-year-old David, voted Canada’s player of the year in 2019, tied for leading scorer in the top Belgian league this season with 18 goals for KAA Gent.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., David was three months old when his family moved to its native Haiti and six when the family came north to Ottawa.

With 11 goals in just 12 senior appearances, he is already halfway to matching Dwayne De Rosario’s Canadian men’s record of 22 national team goals. De Rosario, who doubled as an attacking midfielder and forward, compiled his total in 81 games between 1997 and 2015.

Southampton have confirmed the signing of defender Kyle Walker-Peters on a five-year deal.

The right back has been on loan at St Mary’s since January and moved for a fee of around £12million plus add-ons.

The deal was announced after midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg moved the other way in a separate £20m deal.

Kyle Walker-Peters told the club’s official website: ‘I’m delighted to have signed here. The last few months on loan have been great for me and a lot of fun too. I’ve really enjoyed my football, the atmosphere here and also the style of play.

The club definitely fits the way I like to play, and I hope that people were able to see that during the last month or so of the season.

‘I feel like I’ve already developed in the time I’ve been here, and that’s a big part of wanting to stay too. Obviously, it’s a club with a great reputation for improving young players and, personally, I’ve found it really valuable working under the manager, with his ideas on the game and what he expects from you as an individual.

‘I think the way we finished the season gives us real optimism about where we’re heading too, and it just feels like a really good place for me to keep developing as a player and make the best out of what I have.’

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhüttl added: ‘It was not easy for Kyle when he arrived here. He needed some time to adapt to our style of play, and then we had this period where we could not be together as a team.

But you could see from how he performed when we came back that he had worked a lot in this time, both on his physical condition and also on his understanding of our own game. It says a lot to me about this player that he was able to do this.

‘He is a very good fit for our style. He is a young, intelligent player, and he is very good on the ball, with good quickness and an ability to play this intense style that we like.

‘I am very pleased we have been able to bring him back as our player, as this is a position that we have been looking to improve in and Kyle does this for us. I think he can develop his game even more here too.’